The Border Patrol discovered 149 undocumented immigrants inside a tractor trailer Monday during an inspection on a highway in Laredo, Texas, according to the Office of Customs and Border Protection (CBP, for its acronym in English).
Agents ordered the driver of a commercial truck to stop at a checkpoint on Interstate 36 north of Laredo on Friday and while scanning the truck they detected abnormalities within the trailer.
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They opened the truck's loading area and found the migrants from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Venezuela, Peru and Ecuador.
according to the CBP statement.
All were detained with the driver, an American.
"Human traffickers who exploit for profit continue to disregard the safety and health of individuals,"
CBP said in its statement.
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"With a notable increase in COVID-19 infections among detainees, transporting large groups of people without personal protective equipment (PPE) indoors and without social distancing puts people and the safety of our Nation at risk. ", Add.
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A monthly CBP report released on April 8 revealed that Border Patrol agents detained 172,331 migrants during March.
In February, more than 101,000 people were arrested.
The agency also reported that 18,663 unaccompanied children were detained in March.
The Border Patrol detained 9,271 migrant minors who entered the United States illegally from Mexico in February.
